0239
27-11-2024
Antipode
Berndnaut Smilde
Visual Artist
When I work on location I often wonder what is happening under my feet on the other side of the world. An antipode is the exact opposite location of any place on earth if you draw a straight line. 70% of the earth is water and the chance of encountering overlapping land is only 15%. Antipodes are opposites: They are 180 degrees apart and differ 12 hours in time. Day in one location is often night in the other, just like summer and winter. What lies between these 2 places is our earth and a definition of space. I have collected soil from 5 places in the southern hemisphere and want to try to complete their antipodes. In my manuscript there are 2 bottles of soil with corresponding coordinates: One is soil from outside the exhibition space ‘LIAN art Space’ in Shanghai where I worked for a month. An industrial place. The antipode is a swampy landscape in Entre Rios, Argentina where Street View had not yet been. It was a day’s drive from Buenos Aires to stand there for a few hours in the emptiness, with the floor plan of Lian Art Space, Shanghai, under my feet.
LIAN Art Space, Yangpu, Shanghai, China
31°18’38.0″N, 121°32’35.0″E
Villaguay, Entre Ríos, Argentinië
31°18’38.0″S, 58°27’25.0″W
Material: Epoxy, plastic bottle, glass bottle, soil
